Carl J. Petersen: LAUSD District 7’s Open Seat

LAUSD District 7’s Open Seat

LAUSD District 7’s Open Seat

What we really need in this country is a revolution in public education.”
– Bernie Sanders

The members of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board are not known for having a long tenure. Of the seven members on the board, five were seated since 2014. Of these five, George McKenna (Board District 1) is the longest-serving, having been elected after his predecessor passed away while in office. Scott Schmerelson (Board District 3) took office the following year after defeating the incumbent at the ballot box. In the next election cycle, Nick Melvoin (District 4) also defeated his predecessor and Kelly Gonez (District 6) won an election in which the incumbent did not run as she sought a spot on the Los Angeles City Council. The board’s freshman member, Jackie Goldberg (District 5), returned to her old board seat last year after former charter school administrator Ref Rodriguez was convicted of felony charges related to his campaign.

While Monica Garcia (District 2) is the longest-serving board member, having taken office in 2006, Richard Vladovic (District 7) will be the first member of the board to be forced from office due to term limits. This is due to the fact that the maximum of three terms only applies to those elected on or after March 1, 2007. As a result, for the first time in 13 years, voters in South Los Angeles will face a ballot without Dr. V’s name on it. Of the four 2020 LAUSD School Board elections in 2020, it will also be the only one without an incumbent in the running.

Five candidates collected enough signatures to have their names CONTINUE READING: LAUSD District 7’s Open Seat